


Club Arcana: Death

by babadook (remains), Maidservant_Hecubus



Series: Club Arcana [1]
Category: Borgias - Ambiguous Fandom, H. H. Holmes - Fandom, Original Work
Genre: BDSM, Blood, Blood Drinking, Blood Kink, Blood and Gore, Blood and Violence, Bondage, Complete, Consensual But Not Safe Or Sane, Consensual Kink, Dark, Death, Evil, Explicit Consent, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Gothic, Horror, Knifeplay, Knives, Major Original Character(s), Masochism, Minor Original Character(s), Murder, NSFW, Oral Sex, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, Porn With Plot, Rough Sex, S&M, Sadism, Sex, Shameless Smut, Smut, Threats of Violence, Vaginal Sex, Violence, dubcon, too many kinks and triggers to list
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-28
Updated: 2018-11-02
Packaged: 2019-08-08 15:36:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16432172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/remains/pseuds/babadook, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maidservant_Hecubus/pseuds/Maidservant_Hecubus
Summary: A dark and decadent alternate earth where the Holy Roman Empire never fell and all pleasures imaginable are available to any who can afford the cost.Alia d'Este has built a bloody empire for herself. The popular and exclusive Club Arcana has the best dancing, the best drinks, world class accommodations, and a dark secret under its floor boards.Real estate mogul Takashi Kanda's peculiar desires have drawn him to the Arcana, and Alia. Finally finding a way to sate his bloody hunger. But he will never be content as just a guest in her home for above all things, he is a collector.Welcome to Club Arcana. Things are tame, for now.





	1. Death: Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story, while we hope it is well written, is unashamedly nothing but an excuse for endless murder, blasphemy, and bloody smut. Read at your own Risk.
> 
> If you are so inclined, please check out the [aesthetic blog for Club Arcana](https://thatbloodyau.tumblr.com/) as well as the [Spotify playlist](https://open.spotify.com/user/i2sthqi0faz0oonw69rnhf4u0/playlist/1AzJipgv2JVLshphUm9NE1) to set the mood.
> 
> **CW:** It’s easier to list what will NEVER be in this story.  
> NO Children/Underage/Pedophilia  
> NO Animal Violence/Bestiality  
> NO Piss/Shit/Vomit  
> NO Incest  
> **Literally anything else goes and you read at your own risk.**

* * *

Club Arcana was full to bursting with bodies writhing in sweat and smoke to the sounds of deep base and dark voices. The dance floor was a roiling sea of black leather and lace, bathed in the glow of blood red neon. It was an aesthetic choice as much as it was practical, preserving night vision for those who ventured deeper into the dark heart of the club.

Alia d'Este took pride in all that she had built here. Her own sweat and blood the foundation of this little empire of hers. The music and dancing and drinking was just the surface of everything she offered here. For those that knew the right questions to ask, the right palms to grease, the right sacrifices to make, for them doors would open to the labyrinth of pleasures and pain that existed just below the feet of the the revelers on the floor.

She watched the club from above, perched in her glass walled mezzanine. Her office, her home. Her nails tapped in impatience on a black lacquered sideboard, there was someone new in her club. Someone who looked almost right, and almost asked the right questions in almost the right way.   
  
Almost.   
  
Close enough that she would vet him rather than have him tossed out into the night. Perhaps he could turn  _almost_  into  _right_ and she could give him keys to the labyrinth instead of feeding him to it.

Takashi had admired the club from the outside for a while, seeing it on his commute through the city. The neo-gothic building done in black with gold ornamentation  enticing enough to draw him to the venue. He did his research on it, ready to make an offer on the building, but something else turned up like a ruby in his palm.  Deeper investigation turned the gem over and over, polishing and sharpening the cuts the darker things sunk. He was determined to add this gem to his crown. Enough data collected and he dressed for his christening of Club Arcana.

A lazy half smile teased the corner of his lip as he surveyed the place from the inside. He ordered a drink, moved through the shadows, brushed some elbows and in decent time, whispers were pointing him towards the catacombs. At least, the edge of that cliff. He could feel the sea breeze crashing up, he just had to figure out where the safest place to jump from was.

Alia rarely came down from her roost, insisting that people seeking audience with her knew exactly the position she held here. So few that sought the services she provided believed that a woman ruled this little empire, and when they saw her, small and slight, almost sickly pale, they often thought they were at the butt of some joke. They stopped laughing when her blade bit their skin.

This time however, the patron in question piqued her interest enough that she descended her stairs to join the sea of bodies below.  He looked right, very right. If he hadn’t been pointed out she would have just assumed he was another face in the crowd.

No, no she wouldn’t have.

As she approached the man that came into clarity could never have been just another face. Tall, a foot or more taller than her even in her heels and the platformed leather boots she saw he was wearing. Dressed entirely in fitted leather. Pants so tight she could tell his religion, a high collared jacket, all with buckles and straps artfully arranged, clearly hand tailored just for him.  This was no off the rack trash that so many put on as their ‘costume’ to come here. He wore the leather like he was born to it.  Black hair framed his pale face, his strong jaw, and wicked looking mouth. But it was his eyes, piercing, like he could cut through your very soul with them.

Takashi looked vaguely bored as she walked up to lean on the bar next to him.

“You’re new,” she pointed out, almost accused, “May I buy you a drink?”

The wide leather collar she wore had been noted as a trademark in the whisperings of the owner’s appearance. A few other rumors debated and clouded the appearance, the true nature of ‘the red queen’. Takashi had a feeling that her purpose in asking to buy him a drink was not a veiled hope of getting a dance. His eyebrows lifted while his eyes remained slitted and a ghost of a smile tickled the corner of his lip.

“I am,” he said with a slight nod to her, “and you may.”

He was interested to see what sort of drink he elicited in this woman’s mind. A bourbon? Perhaps his appearance would garner him a traditional sake. Or what he actually preferred, dry red wine. He was polite though, he had been raised with manners and courtesy, he would take whatever was given to him by a host.

Alia’s head tilted slightly and her lip curled faintly to match his. Was he amused or intrigued? She couldn’t read him and she didn’t like that.

“My pleasure.”

As if her mind had been read a bartender appeared in front of them, smiling but silent.

“Two glasses of cognac,” she held up the fingers to match, “my reserve.”  The bartender nodded and disappeared from view.

“What brings you to Arcana?” she asked a simple question, but her meaning was deeper.  _‘You look like you belong here. You fit in well. Too well. Why now and not before?’_

“Observations,” he said, “‘Arcana’  has been of note for a while now, but I don’t spend my time on trends. It’s held fast.”   
  
Takashi accepted the procured cognac in it’s appropriately custom glass, lifting it slowly and smelling it to appreciate the offer. He wanted to go somewhere more secluded than they were, only in so that he could properly hear her. The bar they were at was somewhat tucked away, but the popularity of the club and the heavy, dark industrial beat caused a bit of a split in conversation, trying to catch and throw words in between.   
  
“You may call me Blight, for tonight’s scene anyway,” he said, extending a hand, “thank you for the drink.”   
  
A pen name, stage name, facade for now. It would be clear who he was soon enough if Arcana offered what his tastes desired.

“Blight?” her lip twitched in mild amusement, “Does famine follow in your wake?” She wondered as she placed her hand in his, a great lady expecting a kiss of fealty to be pressed to her knuckles.

“I tend to cause a hunger, yes,” he said and took her hand gracefully, pressing his black painted lips to the glowing moon of her hand. He looked up at her while he held her hand, his eyes showing no true expression, his equally painted on eyebrows staying even. He straightened himself back up and held the cognac without sipping yet.

She was sure he did stir a hunger. His eyes on hers as his lips brushed her skin set something gnawing deliciously in her belly.

“Alia.” She introduced herself. “I don’t find I have a need to go by anything other than who I am.” ‘ _What are you hiding?’_

“No title?” he asked, genuinely. He cared a lot about proper labels to things.

“My name generally garners me the respect I’m due,” Alia said and brushed off the question along with thoughts things she craved. She sipped her drink, settled by the burn. “So, the club has not only piqued your interest, but held it. Now that you are sure it isn’t a passing fad do you plan on returning?”

“I haven’t observed enough, yet,” he said, eyes sliding across the club. He’d only just entered, browsed, brushed shoulders. He hadn’t been able to lose himself, he didn’t want to get off track.”I believe there are a few shadowy alcoves and private doors to knock on before I’ve completed my survey.”

“Are you looking for a guided tour? Directions to find some particular vice? Or just a white rabbit to follow down into wonderland?”

“Are you the white rabbit?” Takashi asked, knowing full well she was indeed. He sipped his drink in return, his eyes boring into hers. Her style and manner were something he appreciated. It fell right in line with her establishment, but hinted at the hidden features. His eyes slyly, but not pryingly, shifted over her form. A few unsavory thoughts glimmered in his head like a mirage. She would not be the prize at the end of the game.

“For now,” she said, her mouth twisting up in a sly half smile. She met his eyes holding his penetrating gaze, forcing herself to not drop her own, defer. This was business after all and she couldn’t let baser instincts put her position here in question.

“Follow and find out,” she blinked slowly at him and pushed away from the bar, glass in hand and she walked away from him knowing he would follow, her slim hips swaying with each step as she led him away from the dance floor to a quieter area of secluded booths with thick velvet curtains.

Takashi picked up his glass to follow suit, the club growing darker, more sinister as a muted cover fell across the space. Booths. He wondered what sort of transaction would take place, what precisely was the price for the novel interests and services provided? He waited to be invited to sit and did so, sliding in, leather against leather. There was no farce in the materials and textures inside the club, or on Alia. He appreciated the candor of organic.

Alia sat across from him. A silent attendant refilling their glasses and drawing away, closing the curtains behind them. She sat in silence for a while. A length of time that for most would have been uncomfortable and awkward, forcing them to speak.

Takashi answered her silence with only more silence, he had no intention of revealing anything first, he was a patient man. He waited for Alia to speak and then she did.   
  


“So, Alice. What are you hoping to find behind those doors you seem so keen on opening?” She picked up her glass for a metered sip.

“The victims of the Red Queen. I’m here to help,” he said, not elaborating on if he was there to help the Red Queen or her supposed victims, “I just need to know which direction to move my pawn.” He sat straight, his shoulders squared and face set perfectly still and forward. He lifted the glass and took another measure.

Alia laughed, a sharp cackle that was nasty and humorless. A diversion tactic. She set her glass down and folded her hands over her crossed knees.

“What sort of establishment do you think I run mister Blight?” She wondered. The question was open, not at all rhetorical. The man was fishing in a school of piranhas, she needed to know if he was prepared for the teeth. She was also buying time while her security team ran his image through the databases. She could usually smell law enforcement, but she was never one to take unnecessary risks based in gut instinct.

“Certain channels have described it along the lines of a horrorshow,” Takashi said, unflinching to her laugh, “and while that might apply to the main arena, I was lead to believe it may as well be a more accurate description of your more… private selections.” A ghost of a smile turned the corner of his lip, just for a flicker of a moment.

“Some people have proclivities towards leather, towards chains and whips. Hooks, knives, all the fine acurtuments you provide for your fetish guests, out there,” Takashi inclined his head to the side and returned, almost unblinking, “others have more  _distinct_ tastes for final moments that do not live on the dance floor.”

She kept the sharp smile on her face. Forced herself to keep her eyes on his though eye contact with him was almost painful.  Her sharp black nails clacked across the table as she drummed her fingers in thought and secret impatience as she waited on the final verdict to let her know how far down the rabbit hole she could take him.

A voice crackled in her ear, _‘Takashi Kanda. Real Estate. Not law enforcement. No record.’_   It was enough for her.

Her smile widened. Too wide, too many teeth on display. "More than a fetish? Well I may have delights to please your… refined palate. However, the Red Queen demands tribute. Only the worthy may join her court.”

“What is the due to prove worthiness?” Takashi asked, pleased to hear they were very much on the same page now. His senses were growing more excited, though it was easily masked by his years of mastering facial expressions. Negotiations were the core of his business and it was too easy to see where the weak spots were if you paid attention to the micro expressions people left behind in the wake of news. Takashi let his be seen when he wanted to, and only then.

“ _Honestas agendo._  Mister Blight.” She continued to smile. “Honesty in Action. You wish to jump to the center of the labyrinth? Then I need more than your word.”

She took a last drink and set her unfinished glass down then stood, a brow arched at him.

“Will you follow me deeper?” she asked.

“Down the rabbit hole Ms. Alia,” Takashi said with a slight nod, both corners of his lips upturned, his eyes never leaving hers. He liked the grin across her face, the intense expressions she displayed without losing control of anything. She lead this excursion and while he could not be sure how well of a tour guide she would end up being, he would follow. His pulse had quickened as they stood again, hopefully on their final stop inside. He didn’t know what he was allowed, what he expected, he only knew he had decided tonight was the night that things would change irrevocably.

Silence was their companion as Alia led Takashi deeper into the building, through smaller lounges and side doors. Down stairs and around corners and twists. Calling her home a labyrinth had been no exaggeration. The deeper they descended, the more Takashi could hear his heart beat in his ears. It wasn’t a panic, it was excitement.

Eventually they came to an empty floor with black on black walls illuminated red like every other space they had passed through. The only thing in the space was an elevator. The only one to be found in the building. Alia approached it and laid her hand upon a biometric scanner and the doors slid open. She beckoned him inside.

The doors closed them in and the silence continued as the elevator moved and they arrived on another floor the same as the last, empty but for one door across from them. Solid metal, padlocked, and with a small window of double thick glass. Next to it, another security pad was mounted on the wall.

She pressed her hand to it and a hidden panel opened revealing a bounty of implements ranging from banal to nightmarish.

“Make your choice. You will be recorded while you are inside,” she said, her voice pure business. “We aren’t above blackmail here, mister Blight. Consider it your application fee.”

The thudding of his heart slowed when Alia presented him with choices that settled his soul. He’d been watching work produced from within, released video of people who were no longer on the good planet. Beyond the architecture, his deep dive into the unsavory film world had landed him in the one place he thought he’d be able to quench his licentious unrest.

While he wanted to experiment with the gamut of instruments displayed before him, he only took a few modest things inside with him. A jagged knife, something that look like it suctioned  _something_ , and a tool for spreading open spaces. He turned back to Alia.   
  
“Sufficient?”

Alia blinked slowly at him, another smirk crossing her face.

“It’s your show,” she assured him. Her comment neutral though she was intrigued by his choices. Visions flashed in her mind of all the ways they could rip and tear and… she blinked it away again.

“All I ask is that you smile for the camera.”

She pressed her hand to the pad and the heavy door swung open with a thud.

Takashi walked in to see a gagged, bound and otherwise naked and prone body ready for his misdoings. He tried to look away, to take in his surrounding and see what else there was to offer inside the room. It was very dark, allowing further red lighting to masquerade the room as if it were a snake’s terrarium. He wondered if it was more soothing for the victim.   
  
He ran his finger up the shifting body, it trembled and tried to scream through the gag. 

“Sweet dreams,” he said, turning back to Alia with a smile as the door sealed him inside.

* * *


	2. Death: Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takashi presents Alia with an offer she literally cannot refuse.

* * *

Takashi Kanda had been searching for an angle to purchase Club Arcana from from the first moment he had crossed it’s threshold. He had his own appraisal of the place, a lovely sum of money to offer, but he knew this particular negotiation would not be a matter of haggling and handshakes. This was not a building someone wanted to give up. And he didn’t want to just be the landlord of the building, he wanted to own Arcana. What a… peculiar opportunity he had stumbled upon, finding out that an actor, some minor celebrity,  had met the end of his life below Arcana’s floorboards. Takashi had his resources and secured the disposal cleanly, along with evidence damning Alia. 

Takashi, or ‘Blight’ as Alia knew him, sat in the leather chair behind Alia’s desk with a straight back, turned around to admire the artwork displayed behind him.

Alia was… displeased. She had been in a meeting with a very high level patron and had to cut it short when she had been informed that the clubs newest member had taken up residence in her office and was asking to see her.  She had made her apologies and stormed up to the mezzanine. The door to her office mase a slick suction sound as it opened. She stood, furious as her chair turned to reveal the man sitting at her desk as if he owned it.

“Hello Alia,” he said.

“Blight,” she replied curtly, “to what do I owe the pleasure of your ass in my chair?”

“A certain ‘missing’ Amardeep Dor. Seems one of your little crows was a little too precise and the club may or may not receive special attention soon,” Takashi said, folding his hands in front of his chest, watching for her reaction. She likely knew the comings and goings of her patrons, and he was sure she had checks and balances for the entertainment, but a mistake had happened and Takashi was more than please to come be her savior and gain what he wanted in return.

“Bullshit,” Alia spat, “I would have known.” She  _should_ have known. She did know that one of her patrons had a particular obsession with mister Dor and her stomach dropped.

“That is exactly why I am here. I have a very interesting recording that damns you and the entire establishment. A full investigation would be held, everything would go under. You could take me with you, or I can get you out of this,” Takashi said, watching as her eyes widened in realization.

“You don’t strike me as the white knight,” Alia said,“Why the fuck should I even believe that  you have what you claim? No one but me has access to the video feed. Even if this were true there is no possible way that you have video.”

She finally moved from her rooted position and began stalking towards the man sitting at her desk, placing her hands flat on the wood surface and leaning forward to look him in the eyes.

“So I suggest you get the fuck out of my office and lose this address.”

Her mind was reeling. The only place in the building more secure than her office was the rooms in the basement. She had pinged her security team the second she heard he had gotten in. Where the fuck were they?

Takashi remained seated at her advancement.   
  
“How do you think I got in your office? You are not secure against someone like me,” Takashi said smoothly at her temper. He’d scared her, that much he could tell. She was getting louder and pointed, missing that he was clearly in a position of power. The first stage was denial after all. She had to think he had something, otherwise, why wasn’t he about to be served up to the next paying guest?

“Like you?” She laughed, “you think you’re some big fucking man because you hunt caged prey that I’ve caught and declawed for you?” She found her straight razor in her hand, no memory of taking it out, but if that’s what she wanted she wasn’t going to argue with herself. She flicked it open and the silver blade flashed in her hand.

“Not that at all,” Takashi said. He stood as quickly as she withdrew her razorblade. “I know you’re feeling threatened, but I have an offer to make this all go away. We could speak like adults.”   
  
He stepped forward, his own slim, matte black personalized pocket knife, ready to unclick and cross swords if he had to. He didn’t think he’d have to.

“Adults?” she laughed, “you’re the one who chose the childish power play rather than asking for a meeting.” Her knuckles were white around the handle even as she backed up a step when he advanced on her. She knew she didn’t stand a chance against him, he had every single advantage on her. But she had her security team.

Her still missing security team.

Blade forgotten, her finger shot to her earpiece, it was still working and there had still been no sign of them.

“Kowalski,” she hissed into the microphone, “where the fuck are you?” Still no answer.

“It is a power play, but not something a child would come up with I don’t think,” he said, keeping a grin contained behind his hard eyes. “Do you want to listen to me now?”   
  
Alia held his gaze as long as physically possible. Craning her neck up as he closed in on her. The continued radio silence began to send her rage into a panic.

Takashi stood inches from Alia, moving forward until her back met the office wall. He folded his arms over his chest, he had a feeling her mention of the victims being ‘declawed’ before would come into play sooner rather than later.Physically unable to meet his eyes she dropped her head, turning to the side rather than face the indignity of talking to his chest.

The pieces were falling into place. The silence from her security team. The fact that he not only got into her office but no one had removed him only summoned her to him like a lamb to the slaughter.

“How much did my people cost you?” she asked.

“Oh, I don’t think that matters right now, does it? Only that I could, and  _did_  afford them,” Takashi said, his hand slithering out to correct Alia’s gaze to meet his. He felt the resistance He didn’t lower, but tilted his head just so.   
  
“There is some paperwork to do now, to keep everything as it is. I will own Arcana, you… may remain the face. I’ve made sure no one will look here,” he said. Alia jerked her head in a vain attempt to free herself from his grasp on her chin. In an act of pure obstinance she refused to look him in the eyes. She could see her death in his eyes and it called to her, she could hold on to her anger longer if she didn’t look.

“You fucking bastard,” she hissed, “How fucking generous of you to steal everything from me and give me scraps.”

“Would you ever had negotiated with me? Was there truly anything I could’ve offered that you would have traded for?” Takashi asked, digging his own sharp nails into her cheeks, holding her jaw relentlessly. “Tell me, did I go to such great lengths to acquire you when a simple business meeting with the right asking price could have convinced you to give up this treasure?”

“N-no,”  she answered as her breath hitched and her stomach rolled with embarrassment.. His nails digging into her skin sent unwanted signals of desire through the crossed wires in her body. Her vision swam with images of what she had seen his hands do in those locked rooms below. Videos of his work had become a private indulgence and without him knowing it, made his betrayal cut even deeper.

“No,” she said again, trying to regain herself, “It’s my fucking life’s work. My home. It’s all I have and I am nothing without it. How dare you expect me hand it over with grace.”

“I didn’t expect you would,” Takashi said letting her chin go, catching the slightest change when her voice faltered. That had not been fear. He kept his smirk to himself. His hand went to her shoulder instead, gave it a pinch and let her go completely, allowing for breathing room between them. Alia felt shame again when a whine escaped her at the pinch. Her eyes closed as she collected herself when he finally moved away, taking up residence on her couch rather than at her desk.

“You can sign digitally, or if you prefer, print the documents and sign to your liking,” Takashi said, nodding at her computer where her seat was left vacant.

She took a deep breath and pushed herself away from the wall to sit in her chair. Well, it wouldn’t be her chair for much longer would it?

The documents were already on the screen and she sent them to the printer. The white paper was near blinding and the text was blurry. She didn’t even bother trying to read the contract, none of it mattered. She was signing her life away, blood, body, and soul.

“Ink is no good to me,” she informed him. Instead of a pen she brought her razor up and nicked the pad of her thumb, pressing a bloody thumbprint to the signature line. She set the knife aside and pushed the papers across her desk.   
  
“My lawyers will accept no less.”

“By blood born, by blood undone,” Takashi gave a curt nod, a smile betraying his features just ever so. He had exactly what he wanted now and was very pleased with himself. Alia’s jaw set as she listened to him and stared across the room at nothing, blood pounding in her ears. It took was taking everything she had to maintain her composure as thoughts pin balled off of each other in her brain. It had been too long since…  
  
“You’re a smart businesswoman Alia, and I didn’t wish to press you into this, but as you said, there was no other way,” he told her from the couch, “I’d love to know, if now I’m not being too personal, how you found yourself in such gruesome business. I daresay it wasn’t family.”

He watched her savor her last moments in her chair, in her office. Takashi had no real interest in completely ridding her from the place. She would have to work for him, and he knew that would sting her pride, but she had nothing left. He wanted her brain and he couldn’t have her running around wild outside the place as a woman scorned. That wrath was not something he felt inclined  to experience.

She stood abruptly without answering him yet and walked to her…not hers… his dry bar and poured herself a measure of scotch, needing something stronger than her usual cognac. She tossed it back with a snap of her head and poured herself another, planning on getting well and truly fucked.

“I have my own cravings,” she answered him as she began to pace the room, “And I thought, ‘if me then who else? What else?’ And so I searched and found and was smart enough to know that anything can be a commodity and no one would ever look at someone who looked like me.” Her lips curled thinking of how blind men could be, how vain to think all of the monsters looked like them.

“I know you’ve seen our videos mister Blight,” she said and kept moving, kept avoiding any eye contact. “Have you seen the first ones?”

“Kanda. Takashi Kanda, though I’m sure you found that on the background check the first night,” he said, watching her. She could’ve been taking things worse. She could’ve lost her mind, screamed and  _actually_ attempted to hurt him. It wasn’t to say she didn’t have the potential to start plotting his untimely demise now, but he was impressed, even if something betrayed her when he handled her roughly. He was pleased with her unease, her anger. There was something so satisfying, watching her drink, pace, snap.   
  
“I have not seen the first videos. Only pieces seem to exist,” he said.

“Kanda-sama,” she said, acknowledging the change in their relationship with an incline of her head, no longer a place for club pseudonyms. Her back was still towards him as she spoke, pouring herself a third drink, her hands shaking slightly as the reality of it all sank in deeper.

“The full versions are one my…  _your_  computer,” she said and waved a hand at the desk. “They’ll show you everything you want to know about where I come from.”

Takashi did not want to add insult to injury, so he kept the polite question of her evening plans out of the air. He was not in control of her life, just her business. She could leave if she felt like it, at least in some regard.   
  
“Would you prefer I watch those on my own time, or do you care to be present?” he asked, looking over to the computer.

“Whatever you prefer. They don’t phase me, I’ve seen them more times than I can count,” she said laughing softly as she finished the glass and set it down. She turned and faced him again, the liquor loosening her up, smoothing out her brain.

“I’ll be present regardless unless you deign to put me up in a hotel for the evening. I was quite literal when I said this was my home.”

“Please, put it on and take a seat. I don’t intend to make you homeless,” Takashi said giving her a tiny smile, an underlying hidden laugh in his features at the irony of a real estate mogul making someone homeless.

Alia didn’t thank him for the kindness of keeping her home. She refused to be some pitiful dog, glad for its masters scraps. Silently she went to the computer and pulled up the video, setting it to cast to the large flat screen. She took a seat on the couch, as far away from Takashi as possible.

There was no title screen, no opening credits. The blackness of the television cut unceremoniously to a close up of a younger Alia’s face, her cheeks streaked with mascara and duct tape silencing her mouth.

The Alia on the couch looked vaguely bored.

A cold blood ran through Takashi, no hints or expressions of excitement save his hand on the opposite side of Alia, twitching and twisting in on itself. He kept it low, not showing the flex of his forearm under his jacket sleeve. His eyes were glued to the television, almost lit up as he watched an  _almost_ snuff film unfold in front of his eyes.

He had seen later works, none of them starring the woman to his far right. They had been a link in his investigation, drawing him to Arcana. His club now. But his mind was hardly on business anymore, seeing all of Alia bared before him, slowly being coated and splattered with her own blood, with the blood of others. If he was in the privacy of his own home, he may have taken a cold shower. Or rewound and gotten undressed.   
  
“Is there a premium for you?” Takashi asked quietly.

“I’m not for sale, Kanda-sama,” she said evenly, enjoying the change in his voice, the apparent effect the video had on him. “Although it is nice to know that I still have something you want.”

She smiled to herself, legs and arms crossed facing the horrors playing out on the  screen. “I thought about coming to you. I like your work and I don’t think you would actually kill me unless I asked you to, unlike most of the ham handed idiots that come here. But you’ve chosen for me. There are five videos in total. I hope you make yourself sick on them.”

Takashi raised a drawn eyebrow slightly at Alia’s admittance in wanting to come to him. So he was being watched not for simple security measures, but for her personal enjoyment. Part of him didn’t like this, a little twitch said it was an invasion of privacy, but what a joke that was. He brushed that off, she had every right to review each session however she wanted. What waiver was there to say what he did in the dark was his alone to enjoy when the whole subject of the matter was beyond illegal?   
  
“This arrangement is not going to be as bad as you think Alia,” Takashi said, his brow lowering as he turned his attention back to her digital form, “I’m not above sharing.”

“My, aren’t you the benevolent master?” she bit out, the bitterness rising in her voice again. “Were you going to offer more before? Or only now that there is something else you want?”

She stood and went to the bar again for more scotch. She rarely got drunk but was determined to black out before the end of the night.

“Fine, lessen the blow. What would you share  from your spoils?” she asked.

Her bites did not puncture him, but only left him smiling on the inside. He wouldn’t have expected her to roll over for him even if that might’ve had its own fun. Takashi was a businessman, but he knew there were no choices, no options to bid on Arcana. Everything he could offer would’ve been turned down and he would’ve felt foolish for trying. So he skipped that part and went for the jugular.  
  
“I can be a good master,” Takashi said slyly, “I have my reserves to parcel out to you, in due time, but yes. Now there is something that I want. And what would you take?”

Master. Her heart lept in her throat at the word and she thought she might choke on it. Another scotch found it’s way between her lips to try to wash it down.

She set the glass aside and leaned on the bar, both hands gripping the edge, her back to Takashi. Her screams in the movie still playing on the screen spoke for her. In the span of an hour she had lost everything and that still wasn’t enough for the man behind her.

But she wanted as well. It was her wants that led her down this this path, built her empire. It had crumbled to dust between her fingers, but her wants remained. Why not lose herself in them? Stubborn pride. But how long could she really get that to last?

“Now you want to negotiate,"she said laughing harshly.

“I have the upper hand, of course I want to negotiate now,” Takashi said leaning full against the back of the couch. His eyes flicked from Alia in the present to Alia in the past. He kept his eyes on the screen while he spoke to her. Just a ghost of a smile turning his upper lip as his imagination ran away as he watched blades christen her skin, well up, bleed out.

Alia poured another glass and turned to face him again, "Tell me exactly what you’re looking to buy so I can set a fair price.”  
  
“You have staff, you have a home, you offer multiple services. I know which ones interest you the most no doubt. I will leave your home alone, any staff you have for your home I will not sway or pay. In return you can either work with me or for me,” Takashi said. He hoped that entering a partnership with her would leverage himself close enough to her to recreate what he witnessed on the screen.

“What a sweet little consolation prize,” she said, her voice was saccharine. “A gilded cage? In return for what? Work with you, for you? In what capacity?  Will I be paid or should I beggar myself to you for any wants I have?  Shall I just continue my day to day as if nothing has changed, I’m sure you have your own ideas as hungry as you were for it.”

Anger rose  in her again, cornered  animal as she was. “So I can keep my home and my work, in return for what? That?” She threw her hand towards the screen.

“Fucking look at me Takashi!” she raged, “You’re negotiating with me, not my ghost!”

The tone was beginning to grate on him, but he allowed it due to her fractured nature in the aftermath of his blow. He listened to her rattle off as fury grew in her voice, comprehending her situation and how he’d cornered her. Not his preferred chess move, but he had to make a sacrifice to get what he wanted. When she yelled at him, his eyes rounded on her first, his head swiveling on a dime and he rose and took two lengthy steps towards her. There was no room for her to retreat. The edge of the bar top dug painfully into her back, a poorly timed jolt to her system.   
  
“Now we are not negotiating,” he said looking down at her. Heels and all, she couldn’t reach his incredible height, “I did not give you my name to abuse it. I will take the media and leave you to wallow if you’re going to continue to act like this.” He pointed a sharp polish finger nail at her throat and curled it, scraped up her throat to the tip of her chin. He leaned down to look at her, gripping her jaw forcefully with a shake.

Alia didn’t need to bite back any more angry words, they had all fled her at the sharp drag of his nail against the thin tender flesh of her pale throat. Her breath hitched again at his voice, the drag of his razor nail, his eyes boring into hers. She was sure he could hear the beating of her heart, not just in panic  but a sudden, nauseating wave of need.

“Ah-” she swallowed, “apologies Kanda-sama.”

“I think we can table this. I’ll come back to you at a later date,” Takashi said, letting her face go and resisting an urge to backhand her. The want for her face to shake again and produce tears was not due to her disrespect, though it would’ve been a fine cap to it. He turned from her, almost floating away and stopped at the door.   
  
“I expect your things removed by next nightfall,” he said and disappeared through the door. 

* * *


	3. Death: Part III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takashi presents Alia with an offer she literally cannot refuse.

* * *

Nobou booked out weeks in advance, so it was no surprise when Takashi had called to make reservations and they regretted to inform him it wouldn’t be possible for two months. He accepted this politely over the phone and called back a day later to find something had opened up that night for exactly two people.  


Alia agreed to his dinner invitation, seeing there was no other option. She rarely left the walls of Arcana, having designed it so that everything she needed was housed within, even to the point of calling in tailors when she decided to add to her custom wardrobe. It wasn't that she disliked being outside. It was the lack of control she had over the environment. It annoyed her. Almost as much as Takashi's presence in her life. Blight indeed.

Takashi kept a grin from betraying him when Alia came out of her room into what was now his office. Tonight she wore a formal black romper with black beaded diamonds across her hips, sheer mesh sleeves, and a smart banded collar that took the place of the leather one she usually wore around her neck. Takashi offered his arm and Alia took it with as much grace as she could muster, gripping at the baroque textured fabric of his deep blue suit as he escorted her to the car.

When they arrived at Nobou Takashi took her arm with more of a tug than was necessary and escorted her to the hostess who sat them very quickly when the name came up, ‘Kanda’. The interior held espresso wood booths with smooth sand cushions, intimate but lit well by the flickering tea candles in the center of the tables and the circular dripping chandeliers. Thick paper menus and three sake glasses each were placed before them. A flight with Gekkeikan Nigori, Tozai 'Snow Maiden' and Ty Ku Coconut were complimentary while they made their decision.

Alia glanced briefly at the menu and made her choice of the crispy swordfish. She set the menu down, ready for when the waiter returned, and reached for the first glass of sake, it was gone in a moment. Uncharacteristically she hadn't spent much of the past week sober and had no intention of changing that during this dinner. She wanted to sit and drink and stew in silent rage at Takashi and his complete overthrow of her life. Alia knew it was childish but she felt like she deserved the indulgence.

What she couldn't do was stand the eternally patient silence of Takashi and so she broke it first by lifting the second glass in toast.

"To your victory Kanda-sama," she may as well told him to rot in hell.

Takashi took the cheers and lifted the remaining sake to Alia’s for a soft ceramic ‘tink’. He drank and set the cup back down. The service was fast, and the waiter returned to ask for any appetizers. Takashi ordered miso soup and hot edamame to share,  selecting the seared scallops for his main course.. Alia ordered after him and the waiter gave a quick bow and disappeared. 

“Still not keen on talking partnership? Disappointing,” Takashi said, slipping his hand off the sake cup and drumming his fingers lightly across the table top. They snaked back into his lap and he tilted his head at Alia. His brows slightly raised, an even,bored look in his eyes. He wanted her to come with him through this, not be a ghost in the parlor. 

"Oh, disappointing?" she feigned surprise and he finished her second glass, "Well I wouldn't want to disappoint you, Kanda-sama. So please," she sat back in the booth with her hands folded primly in her lap, "enlighten me as to what partnership looks like to you?" Her smile was long and thin as she cocked her head to the side expectantly.

“I realize that attitude has gotten you very far Ms. Alia, but I’m afraid you’re only embarrassing yourself in front of me,” he said, his hand reaching to her in her lap. He dug his claws around her neat and indignantly folded hands Alia flexed under his grip and his pointed nails biting into her skin brought her back to herself for a moment and she was embarrassed. At her behavior and at how quickly he was learning to bring her to heel. It had been a misstep showing him those videos, she hadn't been thinking and sought to taunt him with the one thing he didn't have. All she had done was give him another weapon in his arsenal for his war against her.  
  
“The business is quite large, and until that unfortunate mishap, you had everything under lock and key. I am a real estate investor, not a CEO. I want your mind and I know you want as much of it back as you can have,” he said. Alia knew she was better than the bratty loser she was pretending to be and she realized that he didn't have to offer her a thing. Takashi would have been within his rights to have her out on her ass.  But she still had a home and perhaps a hand in the business she had built.

"Yes," she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "I want it back." She laughed softly, bitter still, "and I'll take it in whatever capacity you choose to share it. But I think you already know that.”

Alia opened her eyes again and met his for the briefest of moments before looking away to focus on anything else but him.

"If you are just going to hand management back to me then why didn't you try for a partnership? Why did you need to own it?" she asked, her mouth twisting, trying to keep her emotions in check, "Compensating for something?"

Takashi let her hands go and leaned back himself, though his shoulders remained squared. He watched her flex her hands and compose herself again as he hoped she would. He wanted to keep prying at her, but that was enough for the moment. He gave one slow shake of his head at her, tsking softly.  
  
“You would not have given it to me. I like owning things, I don’t like managing nearly as much. You don’t need my money, you don’t need anything from me. I could’ve tried to sell you a pen, convince you that it was what you needed, but I knew the building, the business was not for sale. Why would you have traded any of that?” Takashi asked. The waiter came back with their drinks and appetizer. Takashi thanked him and plucked an edamame pod from the dish, placing it to his lips and popping the beans inside, waiting for Alia’s reply. He didn't dignify the crude remark about compensation with a response.

Alia ignored the edamame and reached right for the much larger glass of the 'Snow Maiden'. He may have corrected her attitude for the moment but he had not yet curbed her desire to get and stay very, very drunk.

"God save me from collectors," she laugh once but with a bit more honest humor, "No, Kanda-sama, no I would not have sold, or traded, or shared. I suppose it's a bit of a cold comfort to know I was doomed the second Arcana caught your eye, I hate thinking there was a move I could have made that I didn't see." She couldn't help but respect his vicious ruthlessness. It was the only way to get anywhere in this world they chose to live in. She had destroyed countless others on her path to where she was before Takashi entered the game. At least he was a worthy opponent to lose to.

“You couldn’t have,” Takashi agreed with her, pleased to see a smile even if he had to pry it out of her, “I like causing pain, but I don’t prefer to mix business and pleasure. I did what I had to do. As you’re doing.” 

"So," she raised her glass again, "While I can't say I am pleased with the outcome, my sincere congratulations on out maneuvering me. I'm not blind to what you are offering and I appreciate not only that but that I'm still breathing at the end of it all." She grinned this time before finishing her drink in one go.  
  
Takashi ate a bit more and poured himself some sake, his movements careful and elegant when they weren’t vicious. He smiled at the taste, then resumed the appetizer, noting how Alia intended to blur the night. He hoped he could pull her out of that habit. 

“Though, if anything now I have intermingled business and pleasure so irrevocably I have to laugh at myself. The same way you had a need to create your empire, I had the need to conquer it,” he said.

She laughed again, lighter this time as the alcohol washed over and through her, settling heavy in her limbs and taking pressure off of her mind. 

"Congratulations again, Takashi," she continued to smile, more to herself than anything, "you are a master sadist and have done the impossible in finding a pain I don't enjoy." 

She would have toasted him again but her glass was disappointingly empty. 

"Conquer," she said with a smirk. Her eyes met his, "So, have you finished your campaign against me, or is there more you want for yourself?"

Her hand swayed slightly as she held her glass out to him for a refill.

“I’m not quite done,” he said, obliging her fourth, fifth? glass of sake while he barely sipped his first. He held her wrist still while he poured it for her, concentrating on the flow of the liquid from the opaque, curved decanter. He lingered around her slim wrist longer than was called for, for an amount of time that anyone else would deem awkward. He let go and in moments, the waiter appeared with their food clearing out the appetizer. Takashi thanked him and cut a buttery scallop cleanly in half, perfect. He kept his gaze reverently on his food.  
  
“There is a different blueprint to you, a more unique strategy involved. I can’t come at you with an artillery,” he said and the placed the scallop square on his tongue. He slowly closed his lips around it and chewed, savoring the flavors.

"You think you know me as well as all of that after a week?" she scoffed at him, "you might meet your Waterloo yet." Alia tittered to herself although her wrist burned where he had held it. If she was a moth then everything about him was a flame to her. She wanted him, she hated him, and hated that she wanted.  
  
Alia was overly careful as she set her glass down, her movements slow and exaggerated as the table swam. She fumbled slightly for her fork but managed to pick it up along with her knife to flake tender morsels from the swordfish.

“I haven’t looked at you for only a week,” Takashi said cutting into another scallop. He watched her steady herself. He didn’t want to take advantage of her inebriated state, he wanted to seduce and entice her whole mind and body, not just pluck another easy kill. The challenge before him would be substantially rewarding, for he had no doubt she would sway. He could feel her change each time he nicked a little flesh. 

At his words it was as if ice water were poured through her veins. A spike of adrenaline shot through her, the chemical flood pulling her back in the direction of sobriety. She kept her eyes on her plate and attempted to school her features to neutral, tried to keep her voice conversational, but she gripped her knife and fork until it hurt. 

"How long have you been watching me, Kanda-sama?"

“As soon as I found out who owned the building and ran the club,” Takashi said matter-of-factly, “I did a lot of deep diving to collect as much information as I could. I make smart decisions, not impulsive ones.” He noticed her intensity had switched. He thought for a moment and reached his hand out to her thigh just above her knee. He gave it a sharp squeeze, lingering again in the indents he was making, hoping he guessed right and the small pain might settle her mind.  
  
“If you are afraid of me, you are more than welcome to change residency.”

"Isn't fear part of the game we choose to play?" she asked.

Alia closed her eyes and swallowed hard at his talons biting into her skin. The way it made her feel It might as well have been a kiss if she were any other woman. With a slight tremor she set the silverware down and placed her hands flat on the table, anything to ground and steady herself. She kept her eyes closed, not trusting her composure any further if she allowed herself to look at him.

"I didn't show you that video for the first time, did I?"

“You showed it to me in its entirety for the first time. I knew it had to exist somewhere,” he said with a slight lip curl. He kept his hand on her knee and ate another scallop, watching her try to not flail and run away. He didn’t think she would, he posed no threat to her in the moment. In fact, he’d wanted a nice night out with her, whatever ‘nice’ meant in his mind.

She smiled, eyes still closed as she tried not to be distracted by the fire spreading up her thigh from where he rested his hand on her knee. She wanted to snipe at him some more in the hopes he would dig into her again. Again childish, and she knew already that he wouldn't reward that behavior.

“I find you very interesting Alia,” he said taking a break from his food to lift the sake cup to his lips. He kept staring at her. “Are you curious about me, or would you rather I keep my distance?”

"You've come out of nowhere and made yourself a fixture in my life. Of course I'm curious about you," she said. Her own nails curled against the wood table.  

"I don't usually ask the club's members 'why', they're all so damn easy to read. Except you, Kanda-sama. Your--" she looked for neutral words for such a public setting, "your interests aren't borne of anger and that is... _unusual_. "

“I’ve been around, you just haven’t been looking,” Takashi said, his eyes travelling down to her manicured fingers, “And no, I am not angry. I don’t think the world owes me anything, I’m not exacting a revenge fantasy or pretending to rid the world of bad people like a misguided vigilante. Killing is killing, rather done for duty, profit or fun.”  
  
Takashi was not as afraid of being overheard in the private restaurant. He and Alia were placed in an intimate setting, and conversation of the bourgeoisie typically turned fantastical, often morbid and exaggerated. There was no way to actually condemn them on hearsay, no one would anyone worry about it unless they were so blatant. And maybe not even then.  

Alia eased into the comfortable rhythm of conversation, the burning on her knee settling to a simmer. She opened her eyes again but still refused to look at him as she reached for the water this time instead of more sake.

"Oh thank god," she smiled into her glass, "I can't stand when they have agendas. Killing your father five hundred times isn't going to solve anything, go see a damned therapist." She did appreciate the irony of her words. 

"Is killing your only source of fun? Or are there other things that entertain you? I don't get the impression you are looking to end me, yet, but I may be wrong."

“Absent parents, doting nanny. A few friends, never killed any cats,” Takashi said and lifted his shoulder slightly at the corner. He gave Alia another pinch and withdrew his hand to go back to eating. Alia shivered at the pinch and made a conscious decision to stick with water for the rest of the evening. With his hand removed she found herself able to breath again and picked up her knife and fork to return to her own meal.  
  
“I find myself entertained by theater, operas, other dramatics. No taste for reality,” he said, “nothing is quite as satisfying as death though. But don’t think I don’t follow your train of thought, I very much enjoy the carnal side of life. The one we all have behind the curtain.”

"Ah, I haven't been to the opera in years. I've completely lost myself in work I think," she said and shook her head at herself, "Would it surprise you if I told you that I don't get any pleasure from killing or inflicting physical pain? It has its purpose , as you said, for duty or profit, but it's not where I find my fun. And, yes, I have watched you in action, Kanda-sama. I can tell how much you enjoy your work although you maintain a level of self control I have never seen before. It's impressive," she said, placing a bite of swordfish in her mouth and chewed for a moment. "Does that self control go both ways? Could you have a blade on my skin for the pleasure of it without killing me?" she asked, tired of dancing around the subject.

“My threshold for self control is high,” Takashi answered, pleased the poetry around the taboo was lifted. He had a lot of extracurricular things he wanted to do when his blade sunk in, when his devices tore apart and there were organs and wounds pulsing and dripping. He didn’t take his proclivity towards the heinous hobby as anything but what he was driven to do, nothing more than his fate. He could’ve lived his life without it, but there would always be an emptiness to him, some repressed need that might’ve manifested itself in other terrible ways. Maybe that would have been better, it could be argued. What Takashi did not let himself do was further desecrate the mangled bodies with his burning desire. He satiated himself with using his bare hands. It was enough, at least in front of a closed circuit audience of Alia.  
  
Now he was being presented with an alternative, and possibly a route to achieve what he felt was too lewd to be seen. His lips remained pressed together, but an actual smile covered his face for a moment.  
  
“Yes, to be plain. Is your pleasure in letting others do unto you how they see fit, or do you prefer particular tools?” he asked.

Alia's eyes flicked up to Takashi's face in time to catch the smile. This first blatant display of emotion from him was a strange reassurance. It wasn't that she was looking for love or affection in whatever deal they reached. It was sign the monster could wear a human mask long enough for her to survive to the next encounter.

Her attention was back on her plate when she replied.

"I prefer blades," she answered, as if she was being asked to choose between the chicken or the fish.

"I find broken bones to be an inconvenience, I will not have my face submerged in any amount of water, and I insist that my personal surgeon is onsite if you wish to do anything  _extensive_. Beyond that, anything is negotiable."

“Acceptable terms and conditions. There are still plenty of adequate options with blades,” Takashi said, nodding slightly to himself. He imagined Alia’s skin peeling away, the rich blood reaching oxygen and oozing dark across her pale complexion. He imagined the pressure it took to break the skin and he had to stop. He looked away from her, back to his food to continue on with it.  
  
“You’ve seen me reach into cadavers. What’s your limit on having me inside of you?” Takashi asked, no blush, smirk or other indication of the nature of the conversation being other than mundane. It was as much a business negotiation as any Alia had ever had. They each had something the other wanted and were laying out terms and conditions of an exchange. The point of the dinner had been to discuss a partnership after all. It was growing difficult to eat, her teeth tingled she felt so much desire at the idea of him cutting into her with his precise movements. A deep frantic part of her, the part that had gone too long without, wanted to crumble and beg him to break her skin right here in the booth. She closed her eyes and bit the inside of her cheek, quieting that voice before she spoke again.

"Do you want to explore where your blade has been? Or are you asking if you can fuck me?" she asked. Blunt. Takashi supposed that was better for contractual terms instead of double meanings and crossed communication. For a moment, he want to stab her with the dinner knife. He resisted.

“Both,” he said, looking straight at her, his hands on his silverware, holding them flat without use, “I want to know what you feel like. In every regard.”

She still refused to look at him, she knew she would lose herself if she did. Her throat had gone dry and she reached for water to soothe it so she could speak again.  


"Good," she said nodding, lips still brushing the edge of her glass, "I prefer that there be a sexual component." She was dizzy, not from the alcohol, but from need and she could only hope her voice didn't betray her.

"Have you ever mixed the two before?"

“No,” Takashi said, thinking back on the times he had pushed his lovers into his fetish, tried to convince, to sell them on it. He’d been able to, but things had devolved. He had never killed anyone or hurt them beyond repair, he knew how to stop and never lost himself in the act. He was fully aware of what was happening around him. He had decided to carve that out of his life, to keep that part of him far away from other people. It was not something anyone needed to know about, to spread about him. Those memories were long since passed, people on the other side of the planet now. 

Alia nodded at his simple and honest answer.

"Then I will insist on a neutral third party being present during our first few assignations. Until we both know how well your self control truly is when presented with what I'm offering," she said glancing at him quickly and then back to her practically untouched plate.

"It’s not that I don't trust your judgement, Takashi, your work speaks for itself, but past experiences have forced me to be... overly cautious."

Takashi didn’t particularly like being addressed so unformally by Alia, nor did he cherish the idea of a third party. She could insist, but he still had the upper hand. A prickly thought rippled through his mind and he shoved it back into a dark hole. A third party was reasonable, he just wasn’t entirely sure who he trusted like that. Her surgeon? He gaze turned cold towards her.  
  
“Caution is good, and I would advise you to address me with such,” he said, his jaw set, eyes narrow and half lidded. His back was straight and he was done with his food. 

Alia could sense the change in his demeanor, as subtle as his expressions were. What had nearly been good humor had gone cold and his voice warned clearly against further transgressions. She had tested the waters and now knew where she stood.

"My apologies, Kanda-sama," she said and dipped her head without looking at him.

"I... I do trust you. More than I should, considering. I'd like to offer you a sample, if you like, before we make a formal agreement, she said, the words leaving her mouth faster than she could think to stop them. She knew it was stupid and dangerous as soon as she said it, but the need was so deep and she had a feeling it would be worth it.

Takashi felt statis return when she apologized and he drank the rest of is sake and poured his second cup. He liked that her apology not only came verbally, but that it held a gift with it too. She may get something out of it as well, but it was ill-advised to let someone so vicious in nature get just a taste. Takashi knew it would be the end of him. Whatever it was he could try, it was going to become his vice.  
  
“Tonight? What is your offering?” he asked.

"Tonight," she confirmed, "it's  been- " Alia managed to cut herself off that time. She was already giving more away than she should. He could probably smell her desperation, she didn’t need to reaffirm it for him, give him anymore leverage than he already had. This was only to test compatibility. Part of doing business. 

She wondered why she was trying so hard to lie to herself about it.

"Three cuts below my neck. Superficial cuts," she clarified. She could keep her head for three shallow cuts.

* * *


	4. Death: Part IV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A very intimate interview. (Smut finally)

* * *

Takashi’s rented room was no longer rented, but permanent. It was not a room to sleep in, to end his night in or start his day. The room was designated inside Club Arcana, a private customizable space available to patrons of a particular nature. He’d been using it for months, but as of the acquisition he hadn’t had a chance to properly rechristen his now owned space. There was no better way to welcome himself back than to shed the former owners blood across his sheets . 

This impromptu trial had no third party as Alia had insisted, instead the CCTV provided that cold comfort. Three superficial cuts, a prime number and one of Takashi’s favourites. He would make them count for as much as he could. He knew Alia wanted it, as badly as he did for different reasons. Neither of them apparently had gotten this particular release in a long time. Takashi didn’t want his nerves to get the better of him, but he knew the act would be better for both of them if he dropped some of his indifferent demeanor. He took a deep breath and relaxed his rigid posture. 

He’d asked Alia to change, not to make her more comfortable, but this wasn’t going to be some random quickie in a bathroom. The situation called for a certain air of importance about it and he expected her to dress appropriately, even if the clothes would be removed. He’d gotten himself out of his suit and hung it in the wardrobe, opting for a thin, tightly woven black mesh button up shirt and slim, silk pajama like trousers with a pattern woven into them. 

He sat in a tall backed armchair to wait for her. Sharp silver instruments were laid neatly by the bed. He wondered if she would bring her own.  

Alia warred with herself as she moved about her room freshening up and changing as requested.  She knew this was a stupid, dangerous idea, but the voice at dinner that had wanted to beg Takashi for a steak knife in her side was now the loudest one in her brain. 

Her wardrobe change was simple, traditional. Simple black bra and panties, with stockings and garters to match. Enough skin for him to access as well as some things to cut away should that suit his tastes, but nothing that she would miss if it was ruined. She didn't know what Takashi would prefer her to wear but was sure she would find out if this led to an official arrangement.  She kept saying 'if' as if she hadn't already decided. _If_ this trial didn’t prove to be a fatal mistake.

Alia took a centering breath and pulled on a short black silk robe. She left her room and made her way through the club as if she still owned it. Down through the lower levels, into the depths of the hell she had built. She knew which room was his, naturally as she had assigned it to him herself, not knowing what devil she had allowed into her home. She paused outside for a breath, to calm the nerves that put a tremor in her hands. It almost embarrassed her how badly she needed this once the opportunity presented itself.

The door opened and she stood in silhouette for a moment, balanced on tall thin spiked heels. Takashi restrained himself at the sight of her, watching as she entered the room and locked the door behind her. She greeted him and he offered a small nod as she walked deeper into his room, crossing his path to lay down her straight razor beside the other implements he had chosen for the evening. Something far more personal than he had expected and his lip curled at the implications. His face was neutral again before she turned to finally face him.

"Three cuts," she reminded him, "direct me how you please." Alia paused a breath, taking a step back to make room for Takashi as he stood. Her eyes finally met his when she spoke again, "I am relying  on your self control because once you begin I will not have any."

“Three,” he repeated in agreement. He had no intention of destroying her, of going against his word. No one would know what he did or didn’t agree to, no one but the recording. But he owned the building, he could have it, and her, erased. His lip curled up again at the corner of his mouth and he reached a hand out to her shoulder, sliding it along her skin under her robe. With his other hand he untied the matte silk belt and pushed the fabric down softly. His eyes shifted from the bottom of her heels, over her toned legs and black undergarments like censor bars. With his right hand over her left bicep, he gently guided it out. Alia looked at him with curiosity as she shrugged her shoulders back to help him remove her robe and caught it before it fell and set it out of the way. Of all the things Alia had expected from Takashi, a gentle start wasn't it. All of his actions were calculated and precise, even when he was towering over her with his pointed nails digging at her. But soft was new from him and almost more unnerving than anything she could have expected.

Takashi made no immediate move. He didn’t want to force her hands on him, though with all things considered it might be the least odd thing he could do. However, he had no desire to be in a predicament where she changed her mind. He was just as anxious as her about beginning. 

"You don't need to be gentle with me," she said and smiled softly. She wasn't here to put on some sultry display for him, this was a business transaction, not a  
_date_. "Just tell me what you want." He was the one with the knife, the power. It was how she liked it, but she had no intention of making a wrong move and throwing a red flag in front of a bull.

The decisions suddenly seemed daunting to Takashi. He was used to having the power, it was how he operated in almost every aspect of his life. Only three cuts were allowed this night and he didn’t want to dive in head first into it  and just to have it over before it really began. This was for both of them and he was quickly realizing Alia did not just want to be hurt, to bleed and be bent. She said herself she’d be too far gone and was relying on him to maintain his composure, that told him exactly what she wanted, and it was not suggestion or negotiation. She wanted orders. 

“I want you to get down, balance on your heels, and put your mouth around me,” Takashi said both his hands going to her shoulders to push.

Alia’s lips quirked up as she allowed herself to be guided down. She was pleased and reassured by the self control he already exhibited. It would have been well within their agreement for him to take nothing but the offered cuts. No one who she had offered this to before had started with anything but a knife. They were always too eager and too hungry, never taking the time to savor things and nothing ever lasted with them.

Of course this man, this blight on her life, would be the only one to be different. She sucked her lips into her mouth to wet them, looking up at Takashi as she used her hands to pull down his trousers enough to free his half hard length. But hands hadn't been part of the actual request. Alia smirked up at him, her head still on tight enough to be playful. She clasped her hands behind her back, arching to keep herself balanced, and leaned in to wrap her lips around him. 

Takashi watched her eyes flutter closed as she swallowed him down and he closed his soon after to lose himself in the sensation.  He hoped her balancing act with her ass sitting atop her heels and her hands behind her back were just uncomfortable enough to be arousing, because it was for him. He opened his eyes again and gripped the back of her head, fingers slicing against her scalp and grabbing her hair. The sharp drag of his nails across tender skin pulled a pleased, pained whine from Alia’s throat, vibrating around him as his other hand went to her neck and his pointed nails dragged up her throat to her chin.  He gripped her jaw with the palm of his hand, allowing her and expecting her to still guide herself around him, even with his hands providing some resistance. She pressed on, the pain was a wonderful relief. His nails, the way the head of him stretched her throat, the pinch of her heels and stress to her muscles from holding her position. All different. All blending together and humming through her body in prelude to the symphony that was sure to follow.

He spoke no words of encouragement and didn't let out any lewd moans. He breathed deeply through his nose and nodded again at her eyes blinking slowly up at him. 

Takashi released her and pulled away, directing her to stand up and move to the bed. Alia moved carefully, her head already nicely clouded from the ache in her throat and jaw, from the pins and needles firing off in her legs. All manner of straps, chains, and hooks to accommodate the suspension of a body were tucked above his bed, switches and commands at the ready to lower or raise them in any combination. He hadn’t had much time to think through how he wanted to begin things with Alia, he wasn’t sure he was even going to get passed a finally partnership agreement during dinner. Now there was a buffet of options before him. 

Lengthy leather straps hung down, buckled cuffs undone were waiting for wrists and ankles to enclose, invitingly open on the dark blue duvet over the bed.

“Buckle your ankles in, I will fasten your wrists,” Takashi said, his head inclined.

Alia nodded and bound her ankles. Tight enough to pinch just a bit when she shifted, a little treat for her. She laid back down with her arms stretched above her head, waiting for her wrists to be enclosed. Restraints were nothing new to her. Most thought she was bluffing, that she would try to fight them once things started. She didn't blame anyone for thinking that, but she felt like Takashi knew better and she was curious know how his mind worked.

"You're not worried I'll fight you," she wondered aloud, her voice a little rough, "just more control?"

“I don’t suspect you’ll want to fight me, no. I want to manipulate your body in a way I do not possess,” he said as he latched a buckle into place, tugging on it for security. The straps were connected through a pulley system above the bed hiding in a canopy. There were a few different ways he could contort her, keeping in mind that bones were not to be broken. 

Takashi unbuttoned his shirt, stripping out of his clothes and laid them neatly on a nearby chair. He began shifting the suspension system, controlling Alia like a marionette. The controls brought her knees to a sharp bend, her body straight up and down, wrists up and out like Jesus on the cross. She was held in mid air with nothing below her knees, pointed heels pressed into her ass. Takashi smiled as he selected her  razorblade and unlatched it. Alia smiled back at him at his choice, her wicked grin matching the razor in his hand. He dragged the flat of his tongue across dull side of the blade and began to let his senses really morph, take him away. A shiver ran through Alia at the sight and instead of anger she felt hunger as he claimed something else of hers.

He crawled onto the bed, knees sinking into the soft mattress. Alia dangled  at his height and she kept her eyes on him, lips parted, doing her own best to steady her breathing and not let the anticipation get the better of her. Takashi pulled her forward a few degrees and held the center of her bra to fix her in front of him. He took a deep, even breath, his shoulders extending up and dropping. He tilted his head and brought the blade to just under her collarbone. She didn't close her eyes when he brought the sharp edge to her skin. She wanted to see everything. Her skin parting, crimson welling up, and Takashi's face when he cut into her.

He didn’t ask if she was ready, there was no need. He pressed and dragged the razor across and pain bloomed along her chest. Alia sobbed, not in anguish but in joy. The pressure, the sting, the warmth of her blood on her own skin. A matching slice of need cut through her belly and she shifted in the restraints, trying to rub her thighs together.

" _Good,_ " she breathed, still keeping her eyes open and on him.

Takashi watched the blood pin prick along the line he drew and he ached to open her wider. He stopped at that cut, for now, and dipped his hand into the edge of her panties, sinking his fingers down to feel how wet she’d gotten. He moved her thighs apart again with a nudge of his knuckles and sunk two fingers inside of her. Alia moaned at the more than welcome intrusion, whining softly at the drag of his sharp nails inside of her. She hadn't been just desperate for pain, she had desperate for hands on her that weren't her own and she tried roll her hips against him for more. It was useless in her restraints, her movements only causing her to swing slightly in midair. She let her head drop forward, panting as she watched his hand move between her legs, clenching around him at the sight of him taking his hand with the razor and holding it dangerously against his cock as he stroked himself with the handle of her blade in his palm. 

“I wish you had said more,” Takashi said, his eyes flicking from her cut to her mouth to her eyes. 

"I want-" her breath hitched at the sharp pain of his curled fingers as he continued to work inside of her, "I want more. I _need_ …” 

He uncurled his hand from his cock and raised it to make a quick slash across the other side of her collarbone. Superficial as she had asked, but the movement in which he dashed across her skin and a mark was left, gave him a rush. 

“Ka-Kanda!" she stumbled over his name when he slashed her again, crying out this time when the surprise of it amplified the small pain of such a shallow cut. Alia let her eyes close as her entire body sagged in the restraints. Too far gone to care if her shoulders got dislocated, for now it was just another melody of pain.

Takashi set the blade aside and withdrew his hand from her, ignoring her noises of protest. He grabbed her hips and his hands traveled down her thighs, around to her ass, over her heels to press the spikes into her skin as his mouth sucked and licked between the two wounds. What a taste, the little sample she offered.

Alia melted at the feel of his hands roaming her body. Every thought of hatred and betrayal, business and loss fled her when his lips and tongue stung her wounds. All that was left was the pain, the pleasure, and Takashi. 

" _Oh god,_ " she gasped, " _oh Christ please... Taka--Ka- Kanda-sama... please, please more._ " 

Alia’s words were unfamiliar in his ear, asking for more, urging him on in this act. His need for blood always had to be curbed, no one in his past had asked for him to slice again, to go further down the rabbit hole. His heart began to thud against his chest, into hers as he continued licking across her wounds. He wrapped his arm around her back, pulled her to the side with him for a moment and adjusted a few of the levers. She unfolded, her arms still stretched in a ‘Y’ pattern, her legs were pulled up, and apart, and her back rested against the bed. Her eyes opened again as he shifted her. They were glassy and unfocused as her brain quieted and she lost herself in the pleasure of the pain. 

Takashi reached for his own knife and popped the blade out. He rested it against Alia’s skin at her hip socket, over her underwear. The blade traveled flat, cold against her hot skin and with a quick movement, sliced upwards and away from her to cut her panties away. Alia wanted to press against the knife at her hip, desperate for another cut. She couldn't think to care about the agreed upon number, only her need for more. Takashi repeated the action with the other side and they fell off her hips, leaving her spread wide for him. 

He laid his knife on her stomach and pushed his length inside her. They moaned together, his hair had fallen out of place and was dancing over his white eyes. His hand went up to her shoulders to leverage her against him as he sank into her over and over. Her eyes closed and she let her head fall back as he set a pace hard enough to hurt and she cried out with each brutal thrust. 

“You’re perfect,” Takashi said with a deep breath as he rolled into her, harder. It was not in a sighing romantic tone of love, but a statement to his predilections. 

It was delayed but his words managed to penetrate her clouded mind. 

" _Perf- thank you... th-thank you. You… god, please.._." she babbled between cries and gasps. 

Alia’s chorus brought fuel to Takashi’s rhythm. He went a few minutes, his eyes opening, closing, traveling over her body, clutching her, avoiding the knife. He wondered how good it would feel to have him inside of her as he made that final cut. He stared at her long gone face, bliss spread across it and he pressed his fingers on the wounds to sharpen the sting. If she could move she would have been pushing back against him to meet each brutal thrust. Tears finally pricked her eyes as he pressed his fingers into the fresh wounds he had made and her litany of begging continued.

He knew they would do this again. And he would be able to take it farther. He was a man of his word, twisted as they may be, and he knew he had one cut left and it could not be deep, even if she returned. Takashi picked up the blade slowly, his pace not losing touch. He pointed the tip down at the base of her throat, drew a line without cutting and then pressed at her sternum, cutting through the fabric of her bra and travelling straight down to the tip of her pelvis while he swelled inside her, gorged on blood. She screamed this time as he cut her while he fucked her. It wasn't fear, just the release of something deep inside. Escaping along with the blood from her parted skin. 

Takashi wet his thumb in his mouth, drawing out spit on his nail and lowered them to her equally swollen clit. He circled quickled, the knife set to the side. Alia was at the point of no return when Takashi's fingers found her clit. She screamed again as she came brutally hard, her back arching off the bed, her cunt gripping him like a vice, and her hands clawing at the air looking for something to dig into.

The amount of self control Takashi had was astounding, but he was beyond trying to control himself. They’d reached a crescendo and with her vocals echoing around the room, he pulled out of her to cum across her stomach, reaching up to her neck, blood and milk cascading her body. His chest rose and fell heavily, his forearms bracing him above her while he stroked himself to the end. Once he’d exhausted himself, he pulled back to his knees and looked her over. He circled her clit a few more times to watch her twitch, unable to stop any overstimulation. Alia sobbed when he touched her again. The muscles in her thighs trembled with exertion and aftershocks, but her hips still tried to meet his fingers, holding onto the pain of it all.

Takashi knew it had been recorded, but he wanted photos. He’d have to take stills from the CC. He backed off the bed and went to the pulleys.  She groaned as she was lifted again, cold from sweat and limp from release. He stepped back and looked at her from the side of the bed, making sure the camera could get a good angle of her spread up and dripping. He dressed himself and once he knew he had a still to take later, he returned to the bed to kneel  in front of her. Hung in midair as she was, she didn't feel the dip of the bed when Takashi returned. He reached out and ran his nail up over the cut down her torso. His pretend autopsy.

Everything in her lit up again and she let out a strangled sob of need. Alia had no control, no say in her body’s reactions. Tears streamed down her face at the same time she tried to press into his nail. 

“ _More.._ ” she pleaded.

A wide smile spread across his lips and he gently shook his head. 

"No more," he said to her begging. Alia whined softly at his refusal, the promise he made long forgotten in the midst of everything. How sweet it would be for him to dig in, to add to his design. A deal was a deal though and when she came back to herself there could be consequences, though he wasn't sure what they may be. No, no more. He pressed his hand flat against her form, dragged it down her, cupping her and slipping his hand back to her ass before completely removing himself from the bed again. He lowered her down and unfastened her, leaving her to collect herself for a moment on the bed before he stood with her robe draped over his arm like a waiter about to pour wine.  She was only barely aware.

He was not trying to dismiss her or be rid of her, but he typically did not have anyone leave the room with him alive, so he wasn't sure how to approach things. It was late and she'd drank more than he had, he assumed a bath in her quarters would be drawn to heal the cuts and clean him off of her. 

Free, she rolled to her side facing him and curled in on herself. Cold and disoriented, every movement causing a delicious echo of pain. She had no concept of how long she lay there, no idea if she was awake or dozing in the aftermath. She felt languid and well used.

After a while her eyes blinked open and she looked up at Takashi, a sleepy smile crossing her face.

"Was it what you hoped, Kanda-sama?" she wondered, her voice soft and dreamy.

"All that I could've asked for, this time," he said. He could tell she'd be in no shape to really move for a little while and he set her robe down on the end of the bed. 

"Mm hmm," she purred in agreement. Alia shifted slightly so she could look at him sitting by her feet. Her body was still languid but her eyes were clearer, more alert. It had only been a taste after all.

He sat at her feet, they were tucked just behind his back. He looked over her body again, ankles to face. He reached out his nails and he ran them down her thigh, scratching her pleasantly. Alia hummed happily at the drag of his nails. She shivered from head to toe and rubbed her face against the duvet like a contented cat.

"There will be a next time," he said, knowing this would not satisfy either of them. This truly was an appetizer for their larger tastes.

"I don't know," she smiled playfully at him as she teased, "I could be cruel and tell you I need to think about it still."

“I think you’d be punishing yourself Ms. Alia,” he said. He looked over her and caught her eyes. He had certainly won, but he didn’t think it was such a loss for Alia. He hadn’t meant to steal everything out from under her and he knew it would be quite a while before she felt like half or so was hers again, but he truly wanted a partnership with her. This was the icing on the cake. 

"I enjoy pain of all kinds, remember?" she said.

“I’ll call your help,” he said pinching just under her ass and standing up to a phone in the room. She smiled at the pinch feeling utterly spoiled after so long without. Alia still wanted to hate him for everything he had done to her, stolen from her. But after tonight.. it was going to be hard to hold on to it. 

Takashi ended the call and turned back to face Alia, his arms relaxed enough to not travel back up across his chest. 

"Thank you." she said with a smile. She appreciated again his awareness of the state she was in. They hadn't reached a level of intimacy that would call for him putting her back together himself, but he still recognized the need and facilitated. Why did he have to be different, better, from all the others? 

She groaned and pushed herself up to sit cross legged on the bed, about as much as she could manage for the moment. Her head tilted up to look at him in his unusually relaxed state and she found it pleased her to see him like that.

"I'd like to meet with you tomorrow to discuss how we proceed with this as well as terms and expectations of a proper partnership."

“After breakfast?” Takashi asked, looking her over again and switching his eyes from the liquids dripping on her frame to her dark eyes. He had a feeling she wouldn’t put herself through the pain she jested about. He looked forward to discussing the finer details within all realms involving her. She could have been no other woman to run and own this club, no other woman to want things this way. He couldn’t have won any more than he did, a trophy indeed with the structure of the club, the building, the business, but he knew Alia was a diamond in the rough and he would do what he needed to keep her polished and on his finger.  


* * *

_To be continued..._


End file.
